November roundup – Mainstream releases

Still more summer superhero releases on tap this month, to include “Hellboy” and “Hancock”. As usual, the capsule reviews are adapted and condensed from the press releases. Snarky commentary is extra. Preview links (on movie titles) go to Apple Previews.

November 4

Hooray! Another 1960s TV show gets it’s big screen debut! Actually, this one did fairly well against all of the superhero competition, probably due to the presence of Steve Carell in the bumbling Maxwell Smart secret agent role, and Anne Hathway as Agent 99. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Alan Arkin also co-star in this update of the TV spoof of James Bond and other spy films. Extras include a “Comedy Optimization Mode,” which promises “62%” more laughs; it features alternative versions of jokes. All versions also include a digital copy; no indication on what formats available. Blu-ray adds a “Get Smart Kaos Control DVD Movie Game” and more.

November 9

Po (voice of Jack Black) is an adopted panda working for his family’s noodle shop, dreaming of joining the “Furious Five,” a collection of fighters trained in Kung Fu. When he is unexpectedly chosen as the Dragon Warrior and to learn Kung Fu under the direction of Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), he is literally overwhelmed. But when the evil snow leopard Tai Lung comes to claim an ancient scroll containing a legendary secret, Po must stand in his way. Of the two computer-animated films this summer, this one was a bit more enjoyable than “Wall-E” in the theaters. Extras: commentary, cast, music video, featurettes, games, DVD-ROM printables, video jukebox. Blu-ray adds “A Day In the Life: A Shaolin Monk in Training, Po Around the World.” Also includes a second disc, “Secrets of the Furious Five,” where Po must now teach Kung Fu to a group of eager bunnies from the Valley of Peace, something he isn’t really qualified to do. Includes a few extras of its own.

November 11

Second installment of the demon spawn that fights for the side of good is just as visually fantastic as its predecessor. This time, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his paranormal action team must fight a dark prince who wants to start a war with the human world. Extras: two commentaries, seven behind-the-scenes featurettes, “Troll Market Tour” with director Guillermo del Toro, animated comic, deleted scenes. Blu-ray and 3-disc add: prologue intro by del Toro, pre-production featurettes, two-hour documentary “Hellboy: In Service of the Demon,” director’s notebook, production workshop puppet theatre, image galleries and digital copy for IPod or Windows Media. Blu-ray also has BDLive capacity, comic book builder, and U-Control picture-in-picture feature. Collector’s set adds a Golden Army statuette, poster, director’s production journal, and certificate of authenticity.

Intro to George Lucas’ cartoon saga TV series premiering this fall is placed between “Episode II: The Clone Wars” and “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” with a pre-Dark Side of the Force Anakin Skywalker and the rest of the Jedi fighting the drone armies of the Separatists with their Clone Army. Didn’t fare too well with critics and some fans, but what does Lucas care? He’s only got the most profitable film franchise in the world, don’cha know? Extras on the two-disc and Blu-ray includes “The Clone Wars: The Untold Stories,” which gives a sneak peek into the new TV series. Blu-ray adds “The Hologram Memory Challenge” and picture-in-picture video commentary. Hey George: where’s the Blu-ray of the six main films?

November 18

Five pampered actors on the set of a Vietnam War movie get transported to the real thing when their director decides to do some guerilla filmmaking. Very well received by critics, but there was some controversy over the depiction of a mentally retarded person by actor/director Ben Stiller. Robert Downey, Jr. gets dyed up to play a black man. DVD includes cast commentary with Stiller, Downey and Jack Black, two featurettes, casting, deleted scenes. 2-disc and Blu ray add another commentary, three more featurettes, more deleted scenes, extended scenes, “dispatches from the Edge of Madness,” video rehearsals.

Pixar’s latest has a small cleaning robot, WALL-E, working industriously to clean up the debris of humankind, who has left the planet on a giant Ark ship and awaits the word to return. When a sleek scout robot comes to find out if it is safe, WALL-E falls in love and chases her back to the mothership. I didn’t like this one as much as I liked “Kung Fu Panda,” but I did like a lot. And anything Pixar does is better than most of the efforts of other studios to catch up. Plenty of extras: the shorts “Presto” and “BURN-E,” commentary, deleted scenes, Easter Eggs, and a featurette on sound design on the single-disc version. 3-disc version adds robot character profiles, six behind-the-scenes featurettes, “BnL” shorts, development tests, a documentary, “The Pixar Story,” and a digital copy for IPod or Windows Media devices. Blu-ray adds picture-in-picture commentary, trivia track, game arcade, 3D set fly-throughs and BDLive access.

November 25

Vince Vaughn plays Fred, the rather uncouth brother of Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti). Don’t know much more than that, as I decided to avoid this one based on the reviews and trailer. If you liked it, well, Merry Christmas. Extras: commentary. Blu-ray ads three featurettes, a game and a music video.

“Hancock,” with Will Smith in the title role, has an interesting premise. He’s got superhuman powers; he can fly, he’s impervious to bullets, he fights crime. Trouble is, he’s a drunken lout most of the time, wreaking expensive destruction on Los Angeles way out of proportion to the trouble he stops. After he saves the life of an idealistic publicist (Jason Bateman), he gets an image makeover. I rather enjoyed this one when I saw it this past summer. I do have to wonder why adding 10 minutes to the film gets it an “Unrated” tag. Extras: five featurettes. 2-disc version adds two more featurettes and a digital copy of the film for PC or PSP. Blu-ray adds BD-Live functions and a picture-in-picture “On Set Visual Diary” feature.